Gordon heads out into the Gulf; no direct impacts for Tampa Bay

TAMPA (FOX 13) - Gordon is moving on and away from Tampa Bay. As of 5 a.m. Tuesday, Tropical Storm Gordon’s center is 160 miles offshore with next-to-nothing impacts for Tampa Bay, despite wind speeds of up to 65 mph.

All the rain is offshore, explained FOX 13 meteorologist Dave Osterberg.

The tropical storm -- which officially formed Monday morning near the Florida Keys -- brought a wet Labor Day to Florida, with scattered showers soaking the Bay Area most of the afternoon. There was a break in the storm, but more rain arrived overnight.

Gordon is forecasted to become a minimal hurricane, making landfall somewhere in the Mississippi coast by Wednesday morning.

“Now the one thing that I would say about this storm -- which is kind of good -- is it’s moving quick enough that it’s going to run out of time to strengthen before it makes its way offshore,” Osterberg said. “It’s not going to sit out in the Gulf and get stronger and stronger.”

A hurricane warning is in effect from the mouth of the Pearl River to the Alabama-Florida border. The National Hurricane Center “life-threatening” storm surge is possible for portions of the central Gulf Coast. A storm surge warning has been issued from Shell Beach, Louisiana to Dauphin Island, Alabama. 

Off to the east coast of Florida, storms are developing. There is lingering tropical moisture that Gordon left behind, and as the day progresses and heats up after sunrise, it will create rain storms. 

LINK: You can track the storms at MyFoxHurricane. 

Tropical Storm Florence continues to swirl out in the Atlantic Ocean, and is not expected to impact land for a few days. Meanwhile, a new tropical wave continues to move off the coast of Africa, but there is a low chance of development in the next couple of days.